Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Another Endy Rodriguez Home Run & More

Endy Rodriguez remains red hot for Double-A Altoona, Blake Sabol hits his 1st Triple-A home run and more in Friday Pittsburgh Pirates minor league roundup

The Pittsburgh Pirates top farm club, the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians, secured an 8-7 victory over the Louisville Bats on Friday night. After defeating Louisville, the Indians are now 65-60 on the season.

Hoy Park bat leadoff for the Indians and went 3-for-5 while scoring a run. This included a pair of doubles to give Park 11 on the season. Ji-Hwan Bae was 2-for-5 with his 6th triple of the season, a run scored and a RBI.

Blake Sabol started in left field and went 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. Sabol’s hit was a three-run home run, his 1st since being promoted to Triple-A. Catcher Carer Bins was 1-for-3 with a run scored, center fielder Jared Oliva was 1-for-4, and Travis Swaggerty was 2-for-5 with two RBI and his 8th triple.

Luis Ortiz started for the Indians and took his lumps. Ortiz allowed 6 runs, 4 earned, on four hits, a walk, a home run, and three strikeouts in 4 innings pitched. Noe Toribio allowed a run on three this, two walks and four strikeouts in 2 innings pitched. Travis MacGregor pitched 2 scoreless innings while striking out five. Eric Stout allowed two hits but also struck out a pair in a scoreless 9th inning to pick up the save.

Poor starting pitching performance sinks Altoona

Friday night the Altoona Curve were doubled up by the Akron RubberDucks 8-4. The loss came after the RubberDucks scored 5 runs across the first 4 innings of the game. With the loss, the Double-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates are now 61-62 on the season.

Kyle Nicolas started for the Curve and struggled. Nicolas pitched 2.2 innings for Altoona, allowing 4 runs on three hits, four walks and three strikeouts. Nicolas struggled mightily with his control, throwing just 37 of his 74 pitches for a strike. Nicolas now owns a 4.17 ERA on the season.

Omar Cruz was the first man in out of the Curve bullpen. Cruz pitched 2.1 innings, allowing a run on two hits, two walks and a strikeout. Bear Bellomy also struggled allowing 2 runs on four hits in 2.2 innings pitched. Tahnaj Thomas pitched the final 1.1 innings of the night for the Curve, allowing a run on a hit, two walks and two strikeouts.

Second baseman Nick Gonzales was 1-for-4 for the Curve, but his lone hit was his 16th double of the season. Connor Scott was also 1-for-4 with a double, he also drove in a run. Andres Alvarez and Lolo Sanchez each had a hit as well.

The star of the night for the Curve was once again catcher Endy Rodriguez. Rodriguez was 1-for-3 with a walk, his 8th home run at the Double-A level and a RBI. He also threw out his seventh base runner in 19 games with Altoona. Rodriguez continues to push to become possibly the Pittsburgh Pirates top prospect.

Termarr Johnson continues to swing a hot bat despite Bradenton getting shutout

Even though the Marauders were shutout and had very little offense, Termarr Johnson continued to stay hot at the plate. Johnson, who the Pittsburgh Pirates selected 3rd overall in July’s draft, now has an .885 OPS through his first eight games at the Low-A level.

Sergio Campana and Juan Jerez each had a single, and these were the only other hits for the Marauders outside of Johnson’s base knock. Marauder batters finished the game 3-for-29 with a pair of walks.

Luis Peralta started for the Marauders and pitched 3.2 innings. Peralta allowed 4 runs on three hits, a home run, five walks and two strikeouts. He there 42 of his 83 pitches for strikes.

Jake Sweeney relieved Peralta, walking a batter and striking out three in 1.1 scoreless, hitless innings pitched. Yunior Thibo allowed a hit in 2 scoreless innings pitched. Cy Nielson also pitched 2 scoreless innings, allowing a hit, issuing a walk and striking a batter out.